BUIES CREEK, NC— Winthrop fell 77-68 to UNC Asheville in the Big South Conference Championship game, Sunday afternoon at Gore Arena on the campus of Campbell University.
The Eagles couldn't overcome cold shooting as it falls to 23-9 on the year while UNC Asheville improves to 22-11.
Winthrop led by nine at the break, but the Bulldogs took advantage of the Eagles not being able to get shots to fall and took its first lead of the second half on a Dylan Smith straight away three-pointer, 47-46, as the Bulldogs held on to the lead the remainder of the game.
Jimmy Gavin, who garnered All-Big South Tournament Team honors, led all scorers with 31 points and was joined in double-figures by
Joshua Davenport with 15 points and four rebounds.
Xavier Cooks fell one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.
Zach Price, in his final collegiate game, scored four points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 35 percent from the floor and was just 5-for-33 behind the arc. After going just 4-for-17 in the first half the Eagles were 1-for-16 from three in the second. Asheville almost couldn't miss in the second half shooting 53 percent from the field and 3-for-5 behind the arc while going 18-for-28 from the foul line in the second half alone.
The Eagles remained within a couple of possessions over next nine minutes. Winthrop would get stops defensively but couldn't cash in on the offensive end missing a number of good looks from the outside and inside. With 2:18 to play, Sam Hughes scored an easy layup off a turnover and then
Keon Johnson was whistled for an offensive foul as the Bulldogs led by seven. That lead pushed to 11 points with 52 seconds left. Over the last seven minutes the Eagles were 4-for-16 from the floor as the put forth a strong effort to keep the game close.
Asheville was led by Dwayne Sutton's double-double of 25 points and 18 rebounds as he led four players in double-figures. Hughes had all 15 of his points in the second half while Kevin Vannatta added 12 and Smith finished with 11.
Winthrop finished the half on a 13-4 run over the final five and a half minutes to own a 33-24 advantage at the break.
Davenport got it going with two free throws and then put the Eagles up five with a three-point play. Davenport drove toward the basket, faked a pass and then hit a fade away jumper while getting fouled. After making the first free throw on a one-and-one,
Duby Okeke missed the second and
Keon Johnson boarded the miss that led to him making a jumper after the Eagles moved the ball around the perimeter. After getting another stop defensively Gavin stepped up and drilled a deep straight away three for a 31-20 lead 2:20 to play in the half. A Vannatta drive ended the Eagles run at 11-0 and then Davenport added two more for the Eagle when he took a pass, drove straight to the basket on the baseline and jammed it home with two hands.
The Eagles shot 36 percent in the first half and were 5-for-7 from the line as they held the Bulldogs to 33 percent shooting and just one free throw attempt. Winthrop also had a 27-19 edge on the boards and 9-6 in second chance points.
The first 14 and a half minutes of the game were back-and-forth as the teams were all tied up at each of the first three media timeouts. Asheville led 14-9 early on but the Eagles responded and took the lead back at 18-16 behind a couple of baskets from Cooks.
2016 Big South Conference All-Tournament Team
DeSean Murray, PC
Miles Bowman Jr., High Point
Tyrell Nelson, Gardner-Webb
Jimmy Gavin, Winthrop
Ahmad Thomas, UNC Asheville
Dwayne Sutton, UNC Asheville (MVP)
